News from Ukraine, Eastern Europe

Ukrainian forces targeted a major oil refinery in northwestern Russia's Leningrad Oblast and an airbase in Krasnodar Krai overnight on Aug. 30, monitoring channels reported.

"At the moment, Russia's options for escalation are quite limited. The only thing Russia can still escalate with is mobilization. And I believe mobilization would have domestic political repercussions in Russia," Finnish President Alexander Stubb said.

Near-continuous air raid alerts across large swaths of Ukraine stretched into a third consecutive day on Aug. 29, as Russia launched continued waves of attacks targeting the country.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz's government is expected to announce the measures in the coming week, potentially alongside a new European Union sanctions package, according to Politico.

At around 8:10 p.m. local time on Aug. 28, a Russian drone struck a facility in the village of Myla, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) west of Kyiv along the Kyiv-Chop highway. The attack sparked a large fire, followed by ammunition detonations, the Prosecutor General's Office reported.

"Yes, that's the food chain. Children should be taught about this, so that they understand what kind of world we live in and why we are conducting the special military operation," Vladimir Putin said.

The General Staff added that the destruction of a Russian Buk-M3 surface-to-air missile system near the town of Klintsy in Russia's Bryansk Oblast on Aug. 28 had also been confirmed.

As of Aug. 29, there had been no reports of Ukrainian citizens being injured or killed, according to the ministry.

"The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has developed possible response scenarios, including measures to defend, protect, and counter these actions," Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Pavlo Palisa said.

The date, Aug. 29, is linked to the tragedy near the city of Ilovaisk, Donetsk Oblast when Russian forces in 2014 violated an agreement to provide a safe corridor for Ukrainian troops to withdraw from encirclement and opened fire on them.

The figure includes 1,420 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

Ukrainian forces struck a warehouse belonging to Russian e-commerce giant Ozon overnight on Aug. 29, the company announced, as sites across southern Russia's Rostov Oblast were reportedly targeted.

"On the fifth year of the full-scale invasion, making the same mistakes is criminal negligence," Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi said. "And all those responsible, without exception, must face severe punishment so that such situations do not happen again."

"I am grateful for the information and for the necessary tone of the conversation with Russia," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Earlier, Ukraine's Presidential Office issued a warning, saying that Russia plans to mobilize 600,000 recruits over 2026 and 2027, with 300,000 to be called up this year and another 300,000 next year.